Category: Publishers

On the Road with A. F. Henley’s Road Trip! (guest blog and giveaway)

Let’s turn up the music, roll down the windows

and head out on the road

with A. F. Henley!

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A Giveaway and Guest Blog  for my newest release… Road Trip

My Road Trip by A. F. Henley

Is there anything more exciting (and at the same time as nerve-wracking) as the prospect of taking a road trip? If everything goes smoothly, it can be one of the best times of a person’s life – odd places, interesting sights, the freedom of the open road, and the opportunity to experience something brand new. I think the idea calls to those of us who still have some of the wanderer buried deep down under the partitioned, organized, drudgery of day-to-day existence.

I took my own road trip while I was working on Road Trip, although mine was more of the Eastern side of the United States as opposed to Boyd’s journey of ‘sea to shining sea.’ It was crazy exhilarating, at times it was more than a little bit scary (yes, things really are different on the other side of that there border), but I can honestly say that I’ve never felt so empowered by something as simple as taking holidays before. I stopped where I wanted to stop, looked at what I wanted to look at, and if the idea of wondering off my chosen path hit me, I went with it.

I learned a lot as I travelled. For example:

• American border guards art not interested in your sense of humor, thank you very much, please step out of the car.

• The people in New York are either pleasantly content or grumpily hostile, and these two personas can be swapped for the either in less than a second.

• Pennsylvania is beautiful—resplendent in hills and mountains with breathtaking views, full of winding roads and courteous drivers, not to mention all kinds of back-to-nature goodness—and you will spend more time looking at your map thinking, how can I possibly not be through this state YET?!, because of it.

• Maryland is a super cool state to travel through because you get to mark off an entire state in what seems like the blink of an eye.

• When something goes wrong on the roads in Virginia, it goes very, very wrong. (By the time I arrived at my destination I had coined, and already begun overusing the phrase, “I blame Virginia for everything.”)

• The Outer Banks in North Carolina is where I will someday go to die. For all the right reasons.

• Unless I end up in Tennessee, as it is almost as beautiful as NC but doesn’t have those super-icky beach bugs. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t have the super-awesome beach.

• There are vending machines in the U.S. for almost everything, including placing food orders (and, apparently, hospital scrubs?!). This makes me far more wary than it probably should. Nothing says technological advancement like the slow but steady removal of human beings from damn near every process known to mankind. One day we’ll have a society with nothing left but the robotics and the government… And there, see? I have digressed. Because that is a story for another time.

See, the most important thing I learned along the way was that there is a whole heck of a lot of truth to the adage that the expedition is just as important (if not more) than where you end up. And if life truly is a journey and not a destination, then I’ll happily take mine behind the wheel of my car, with the sun through the windshield and the radio blasting, any day.

Speaking of the radio blasting… how’s about a playlist to carry us through the rest of the tour?

Until next time! ❤

Blurb & Cover for Road Trip!Road Trip Cover

For as long as Boyd can remember, he’s been pushing pins into a map. Carson City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque—all places he wants to see, for a dozen different reasons that wouldn’t mean a thing to anyone else. When he finally gets a chance to purchase the ’69 Road Runner of his dreams, at a price that even he can manage, Boyd jumps at the opportunity.

Oliver seems like just another kid with a broken dream when their paths cross in Vegas. Against Boyd’s better judgment, he offers to let Oliver hitch along for the ride when Oliver confides the need to get out and get gone.

But it’s not long before Boyd realizes Oliver’s reasons for running are more complicated—and more dangerous—than Oliver let on. But Boyd doesn’t like people who play hardball, and he definitely doesn’t like people messing with a man who’s managed to light a fuse that Boyd forgot he had.

Gay Contemporary Romance
Copyright © 2015 by A.F. Henley
Published by Less Than Three Press

Please note: Novel contains some explicit content.

Purchase Link:   Less Than Three Press

Excerpt

It was just another day—just another twenty-four hour period between all the rest of them. Sure, thirty-five years prior, Boyd’s mother had been forcing out a nine-pound, some-odd-ounces mound of entirely unimpressed infant from the depths of her lady parts, but Boyd figured that was an event that should win her more kudos than it should him. As far as celebrating his birthday went, Boyd’s big plan was the acquisition of a bottle of Jim Beam, followed by the slow-but-steady process of sipping himself into an alcohol-induced stupor.

It hadn’t taken long for thirty-five to catch up to him, and it was one of those birthdays where three and a half decades hit like seven. His back ached from sprawling on cold concrete for too many hours. His finger joints burned from years of gripping air tools and turning wrenches. He was bitter and disillusioned, tired and worn out, and doing his best not to lament over the possibility that life truly was as good as it was going to get.

Until he saw the email.

The auto trader website had promised the best deals in the country delivered directly to one’s inbox, free of charge. Simply enter some personal info, vehicle preferences, and wait. Boyd had been a member for almost four years, but it had got to the point where most of the ‘awesome’ notifications were marked and deleted before they were even read. This one had pictures, though, and even if it would take his ancient computer several minutes to chug them into existence, opening it would mean Boyd could live vicariously with somebody else’s chromed baby for a few moments.

The car was a beauty. The body was mint, the engine supposedly ran like a clock, and it was drive-away ready. So when he saw the price, Boyd almost ignored it. A typo, he assumed. Someone forgot a one. An asking price of six-point-two was unheard of. He even went so far as to close and delete the email, to shut down his computer, locate his keys, and head for the front door before he reconsidered. Because, what if…?

What if finally…?

The Giveaway

On behalf of the tour, please join the giveaway by taking part in the Rafflecopter below. The prize consists of a Vintage ‘Chrome’ and Leather Road Runner Key Fob (can you say awesome Father’s Day Gift?), a $20 gift certificate to the Less Than Three Press book market (free books!), and a signed, print copy of Road Trip (when available). Click through for terms and conditions, further details, and your chance to win! See all the details here: 

** Please note that this giveaway is being offered tour-wide and there will be one winner awarded for the entire event. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

ENTER RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE: a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Author Bio :

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Henley was born with a full-blown passion for run-on sentences, a zealous indulgence in all words descriptive, and the endearing tendency to overuse punctuation. Since the early years Henley has been an enthusiastic writer, from the first few I-love-my-dog stories to the current leap into erotica.

A self-professed Google genius, Henley lives for the hours spent digging through the Internet for ‘research purposes’ which, more often than not, lead seven thousand miles away from first intentions but bring Henley to new discoveries and ideas that, once seeded, tend to flourish.

Henley has been proudly working with LT3 since 2012, and has been writing like mad ever since—an indentured servant to the belief that romance and true love can mend the most broken soul. Even when presented in prose.

You can find or follow A. F. Henley here:
Website: http://afhenley.com/
Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/A.-F.-Henley/e/B00FIODWSK/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/author-a-f-henley/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AFHenley
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AFHenley

On Tour with A.M Arthur’s The Truth As He Knows It (book tour and contest)

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Book Name: The Truth As He Knows It
Author Name: A.M. Arthur
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Goodreads Link

Author Bio:

A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories.

When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.

Where to find A.M. Arthur:

Contact her at am_arthur@yahoo.com with your cooking tips (or book comments). You can also find her online (http://amarthur.blogspot.com/), as well as on Twitter (http://twitter.com/am_arthur), Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/blog/am-arthur), and Facebook (A.m. Arthur). A.M. Arthur’s work is available from Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, Dreamspinner Press, and Musa Publishing.

Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Cover Artist: Lyn Taylor

Sales Links:  Samhain   Amazon

Blurb:

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Officer Noel Carlson isn’t out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, only to distant friends and family, so a relationship is out of the question. That doesn’t stop him from wanting one, though.

When a night-shift call brings him face to thonged butt with a hired stripper whose girl-party gig went terribly wrong, Noel takes pity on the guy and lets him go. But he can’t get the encounter out of his mind.

Shane has big-time debts to repay, especially to the brother who sacrificed nearly everything for him. His two jobs, in a deli and as a stripper, leave him no time for a social life. But a non-date of hot sex and takeout food with Noel? He can squeeze that in.

The bond they form is stronger than either expected or wanted. Especially since the step Shane’s about to take to put his brother—and his soul—back in the black isn’t quite legal. And he never calculated just how much his determination to make things right will cost him in the end.
Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance

Excerpt:

“I want to see you again,” Shane said.

Noel grinned, flashing those dimples. “I’d like that too. My work schedule is pretty weird, though. I’m first shift, which is eleven at night to seven in the morning, five days, starting tomorrow.”

Shane worked that one around. It gave them daytime hours, and evenings on Wednesday and Thursday. He worked at the deli tomorrow, and Saturday was off the table. Probably Sunday too, for good measure. “When do you sleep?”

“Usually when I first get home, from about eight to two or three. Sometimes longer, depending on the night.”

“So you’re usually free dinnertime until like ten?”

“Pretty much.” Noel cracked an unexpected yawn. “Sorry, my schedule is a little off after spending the day with Tristan. I try to keep similar sleep times on my days off so I don’t get too screwed up.”

Shane stood, surprised. “How long have you been awake?”

“About thirty hours.”

“Shit, why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Because I wanted to do this tonight. I’ve been thinking about you all week, and I’m glad I saw you at Mineo’s today. Really glad.”

“Me too.” Shane draped his arms around Noel’s waist. “And since this has been a fantastic night, I’m going to go before you pass out from exhaustion.”

“Do you want to get together tomorrow?”

He considered it for about two seconds. “My weekend’s pretty booked with work and stuff. Monday? We could maybe go out for real this time?”

“Sounds good. I’ll call you when I get up Monday and we can hammer out the details.”

“Okay.”

Shane collected his clothes and dressed, taking his time because Noel was watching. The opposite of a striptease, and Shane kind of loved the novelty of it. He meant his good-night kiss to be soft, quick, but Noel held him tight and devoured his mouth until Shane was breathless and half-hard. God, he could kiss Noel for hours and not get tired of it. But he saw the fatigue in Noel’s eyes, and it was time to leave.

“See you soon,” Shane said. “And thanks for dinner.”

“You’re welcome, cowboy.”

Shane strolled back to his car with a bounce in his step, positive he’d never be able to hear the word “cowboy” again without thinking of Noel Carlson.


Pages or Words: 83,000 words, 255 pages

AMBadgeTour Dates/Tour Stops:

10-Feb

Prism Book Alliance

All I Want and More Books

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

11-Feb

Amanda C. Stone

Hearts on Fire

12-Feb

Joyfully Jay

13-Feb

My Fiction Nook

Because Two Men Are Better Than One

16-Feb

Love Bytes

17-Feb

Cathy Brockman Romances

Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves

18-Feb

Book Reviews and More by Kathy

BFD Book Blog

19-Feb

Carly’s Book Reviews

Bayou Book Junkie

20-Feb

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

23-Feb

Molly Lolly

24-Feb

Cate Ashwood

25-Feb

Queer Town Abbey

3 Chicks After Dark

26-Feb

Velvet Panic

Smoocher’s Voice

27-Feb

Jade Crystal

Parker Williams

2-Mar

Charley Descoteaux

MM Good Book Reviews

Inked Rainbow Reads

Wake Up Your Wild Side

As The Pages Turn 

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-book of ‘Truth As He Knows It’ plus an additional book from A.M. Arthur’s Backlist.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Rafflecopter Code:
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A Sammy Review: Take the Long Way Home by J.A. Rock

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

“I think TV and movies have taught us all to make this production out of how we’re damaged goods and no one will ever love us. You know what you are? You’re a human being. You have good days and bad days. All your feelings are normal. And if the people you’re around now don’t treat you right, you’ll have opportunities to go other places and meet other people.”

Take The Long Way Home coverDresden Marich is going through the world, observing, listening, and very carefully interacting. He’s not your typical boy, doesn’t fit any bill for the kid who suffered childhood trauma, who went through a great loss, or who failed out of school because he just didn’t care. Those things all have stereotypes, and he fits none of them.

Maybe he’s a little broken, maybe a lot, but that’s okay. Or so Caleb Harview tells him. A chance meeting brings them together, and through their time Dresden begins to learn a lot – not simply about himself or the world, but about the intricacies of human life. But there’s still so much more out there, and running is so easy. He’ll have to decide where he wants to be and where he wants to go.

I think he feels all the right things. I think the world is so full of people who are scared and alone, and maybe that guy who tried to save me from being kidnapped is right—nobody helps. So I’ll change that. I’ll love harder and make a fool of myself. I’ll try to be braver, because nobody just floats through life. We all get banged up. I’m going to find the right person to show what’s under the skin, how deep the scars go. Because there’s no way being wounded should be a lonely business.

Have you ever maybe watched one of those shows on HGTV, where people are touring a house that’s old, with these little details of a life lived, and a small arch that has so much character, and the people sigh and smile and say “how charming” – despite the possible mold in the bathroom, the cracks running down the walls, or the water stain from a rainstorm twenty years before? That’s kind of how I’d describe this book – surprisingly charming.

For a lot of the book I was very uncomfortable. As a social worker, I find myself especially attuned to certain things, and this entire book screamed at me. A lot of Dresden’s thoughts were disconnected, jumbled at times, and occasionally shockingly morbid. It made me ache, wish I could just soothe some of the constant chaos in his head. But then I grew to appreciate it, because if there’s one thing is it, it’s honest. And perhaps it’s partially that honesty that made me so damned uncomfortable.

Take the Long Way Home approaches sensitive subjects and throws the idea of being politically correct completely out the window. It dares to push the lines that we as a society has built and make you question things you never even thought of before. Even if you read it and hated it, I can’t see you not wondering for even just a moment “why?” – why does he think that? Why does that happen? Who could do that? Do people really think like that?

But what I don’t understand is, where were we going, the two of us? Because maybe I loved him. But it’s hard to imagine him feeling that way about someone like me. Although, if you limited who you could love to people who weren’t broken, you’d never love anyone. Or you’d love an idea of a person. It takes nothing to say you love someone. But it takes a stupid kind of courage to actually do it.

This book is so different from any other thing I’ve ever read. As I said before, Dresden’s thoughts come across as disconnected at times, and for some that could make the reading feel choppy. But for me, once I connected with the character, once I began to really move with him and feel with him, it all made so much more sense.

The characters are deep and flawed, and I appreciate how well thought out they are. You didn’t just have Baby Kate to have her, she played a role. And even those who weren’t actually in the book, but who were remembered, such as Dresden’s father, had such a life.

So this story is a little twisted, brutally honest, deep when you don’t want it to be, and daring. It’s not for everyone, but I can say it’s one of those books you just have to read for yourself.

Unfortunately, I am not a fan of the cover art by Dar Albert. The models look plastic and fake and I’d actually prefer the cover without them even on it. It has a nice base, but that’s all lost with the models.

Sales Links:   Loose Id             All Romance (ARe)              Amazon   Buy it Here

Book Details:

ebook, 225 pages
Published January 20th 2015 by Loose Id LLC
original titleTake the Long Way Home
ISBN139781623005436
edition languageEnglish

Lights, Camera, Cupid! Back To Bluewater Bay on Valentine’s Day (contest)

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Its Valentine’s Day at Bluewater Bay!

Thanks for joining us on this tour! Check out the great Valentine’s Day stories from Bluewater Bay and comment to win a Valentine’s gift basket sent to you or a Valentine!

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Lights, Camera, Cupid! (A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology)

Cupid is visiting Bluewater Bay, and he’s leaving chaos in his wake.

Nothing’s been the same in this sleepy little logging town since Hollywood came to shoot the hit TV show Wolf’s Landing—especially Valentine’s Day.

In L.A. Witt’s Just Another Day, beloved actors Levi Pritchard and Carter Samuels have an announcement for their fans, while in Z.A. Maxfield’s I’ll Be There, actor Spencer Kepler and his boyfriend Nash Holly brave a blizzard and a fan convention to spend their first February the 14th together.WolfsLanding_transparent

Of course, it’s not just TV stars celebrating the day. In Anne Tenino’s Helping Hand, an aspiring artist eager to escape Bluewater Bay decides he just might have a reason to stay: lust-inspiring logger Gabriel Savage. In S.E. Jakes’s No Easy Way, a local teacher reconnects with an old lover working security on the film set. And in Amy Lane’s Nascha, a Bluewater Bay elder recalls how his own unconventional family used to celebrate the holiday.

Real life may be nothing like TV, but when Cupid comes to town, there’s plenty of romance and drama to go around.

Sales Link:  Buy It here at Riptide Publishing.
About Bluewater Bay

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by ten award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield, Aleksandr Voinov, Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, and G.B. Gordon. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

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Contest/Giveaway

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a Valentine’s gift basket sent to you or a Valentine! We’ll send anywhere local delivery is available (and offer a $40 store credit in the event that delivery is not available in your country.) The winner will pick the type of basket they want (either fruit, flowers, or candy/snacks) and we’ll send your basket out!

It’s Cold Outside! Need Some Storming Love? Meet Seth and Casey From RJ Scott!

 

 

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Storming Lose: Seth and Casey by RJ Scott

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Seth Wild is a fire fighter who has lost everything. Nearly dying in a building collapse, he is scared and angry and chases away the only good thing in his life—school teacher Casey McGuire.

When a sudden and violent snow storm hits their town he receives a message Casey and ten kids are trapped in an education center with no way out. There is no one else who can help, he’s the last fire fighter in town with his bum leg and his icy heart.

He doesn’t hesitate. He always promised he would be Casey’s hero, but will he ever again be Casey’s love?

Buy Links   RJ Scott

 

About RJ Scott

RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.

As an avid reader herself, she can be found reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However, her first real true love will always be the world of romance where she takes cowboys, bodyguards, firemen and billionaires (to name a few) and writes dramatic and romantic stories of love and passion between these men.

With over seventy titles to her name and counting, she is the author of the award winning book, The Christmas Throwaway. She is also known for the Texas series charting the lives of Riley and Jack, and the Sanctuary series following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and the people it protects.

Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

Contact/Follow RJ Scott at:

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rj@rjscott.co.uk
www.rjscott.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj
www.tumblr.com/blog/rjscott (some NSFW (not safe for work) photos)
www.pinterest.com/rjscottauthor/

Excerpt from Seth and Casey…

 

 

He pushed the door shut against the howling wind and snow and stamped off his feet coming face to face with a terrified looking probie.

“We have school kids and a teacher trapped up at Shorefields,” Seth snapped out. Probie blinked at him. He recalled the guy’s name was Evan or Eben or something. And it seemed like Evan/Eben was in complete panic mode and meltdown. He glanced worriedly from side to side, like some kind of divine intervention was going to answer Seth’s statement.

“There’s no one here,” Evan/Eben said.

Seth waited for a second then exasperated that there wasn’t more of an immediate reaction he pushed past Evan/Eben and into the main area. Both trucks gone.

“I said, they’re not here, ladder one didn’t come back in from the interstate, and engine two went out to Middleton Springs. There’s been a building collapse. It’s just me.”

Seth rounded on the guy and was so close he could see the panic in blue eyes.

“Get on to other stations and call this in—“

“I can’t. Sir, we have nothing. No comms, no Internet, nothing.”

“Give me a sitrep. What’s your name? Evan? Eben?” Seth ordered.

The probie blinked at him then visibly pulled himself together. He was new since Seth had been put on leave. He’d had training, but this was probably his first real situation.

“Evan sir, Evan Pritchard. Uhmmm… Both engines out, reports of major incidents, last said the storm has taken out power. I’m alone here…” He paused. “And sir, I’m not sure what to do.”

Seth considered what he’d been told. Ten kids, Casey, Shorefields, trapped in the bus, which meant they had maybe managed to get away from Shorefields itself and had no way of getting back. He doubted they were set for extreme weather.

“Okay. I want you here. You’re not to leave and you’re to keep your eyes on comms, see if we can get more intel. I need supplies in a bag from the kitchen, water, energy bars.”

“What are you going to do?”

Seth looked directly at him. Evan needed to know where he was going. “There’s a bus load of kids trapped up at Shorefields and I’m going to help. I’m taking the Land Rover.”

He didn’t leave room for discussion, simply presented the facts a done deal. He should wait for a team, for backup, but there was nothing stopping him from getting to Jamie and the kids. And Casey.

“Yes, sir.”

They split, Seth checking the truck he was going to use, a modified vehicle capable of getting through most of the shit life could throw at it. It was equipped with most of the things he could need. Then as an afterthought, he grabbed coats from the supply room. He knew the kids would be dressed warm. After all, the whole day had been a winter experience in a beautiful place.

He was supposed to be there with Casey. He’d said he was staying at home. Time is not right to start thinking I’ve fucked up.

Contest:  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

A MelanieM Review: No Boundaries (Phoenix, Inc. #1) by S.E. Jakes

Rating: 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4 stars out of 5

When your past closes in, running isn’t always an option.

No BoundariesCole Jacobs left behind his old life on the streets to make a name for himself rebuilding high-end vintage cars and bikes.  That life had almost cost him his soul, even now Cole’s not sure that he can heal the damage done by selling himself to stay alive.  He’s just happy to be out of the lifestyle and have a job he does well and enjoys.  But Cole’s feeling of safety and contentment is short lived when he’s slipped a piece of paper at work that threatens him and all he has worked for.

A stalker has come to town looking for Cole and now he has found him.  And Cole doesn’t know where to turn for help.

Ex soldier, ex CIA agent Marcus Lowry now works for Phoenix, Inc. Investigations.  The owners are ex agents like himself and the cases are normally quick and easy. Plus they don’t give him the nightmares his days as a CIA operative did. Until Marcus is given Cole’s case and Cole as a client.  Cole pushes many of his issues of trust and betrayal as well as raising feelings of attraction and possibly love that Marcus has tamped down.

Cole sees in Marcus the same type of man that used to buy him on the street and the clashes of temperaments and emotions come quick and fast, as fast as their lust for each other.

Then the first attempt on Cole’s life almost kills them both and its time for all the secrets to come out and issues to be dealt with if Marcus is to stop a killer as well trained as himself.

I love SE Jakes and her pantheon of hardcore, damaged, sometimes lethal men.  No Boundaries is the first in her new series, Phoenix, Inc, a private investigative service run by three lovers, Styx, Law and Paulo whose story is told in SE Jakes’ Men of Honor series.

No Boundaries introduces us to Marcus Lowry, a new agent and ex CIA op.  Marcus is a bundle of issues, including PSTD.  He has nightmares over his last tour, his usually spot on ability to detect those lying to him or cons isn’t working and the stress is burning him out.  So his bosses figure what he needs is to take on Cole Jacobs, another damaged man, as a client, who just might kickstart Marcus back to life.

Law, Styx and Paulo know Cole as the mechanic who fixes their bikes and cars but Styx also recognizes in Cole someone who carries the same pain and scars as two of them.  Jakes writes damaged men especially well.  It doesn’t seem to matter what age her characters are or what injury has been done to them, each of them (whether its 24 years old Cole or seasoned vet 35 year old Marcus)  comes off as a real, albeit troubled, person.

Law, Styx, and Paulo also come across as fully realized, although it certainly helps to know their backstory as I do.  For this series to completely work as a standalone series (outside of the Men of Honor, Hell or High Water and other interrelated series), more of their history needs to be included for the reader coming in without any prior knowledge.

Cole and Marcus’ shift into a relationship is hot, fast, and always on shaky ground.  Each man has so many secrets and issues that make a firm foundation for any relationship close to impossible or believable.  Both spend an inordinate amount of time either running or wanting to run away as much as they want to run towards each other.  Their heated arguments go hand in hand (snicker) with their sexual hookups.   I bought into their relationship completely…up until the end.  That was the only segment that didn’t feel real considering everything that went before.

The only other issue I had here, outside of the unrealistic ending, was what happened with the stalker.  I loved the tension and suspense that SE Jakes brought to the whole stalking situation.  She easily made her case that this person posed a deadly threat to them all, and she kept us on our toes as we waited for the stalker to make the next move, one that was always unanticipated.  Until the end.  Then the story rushes to a quick resolution and then onward to an ending that felt more tacked on then part of the story I just read.  Had this ended more as a HFN, that would have been more in character than the HEA it seemed to be. Some readers will be overjoyed at this ending and wondering what I am going on about, but these damaged men can’t be smoothed out that easily and remain authentic, at least to me.

Those issues aside, this is one hot, sexy story.  And its full of hardcore, experienced men who have had more than their share of pain, regret, and loss.  When they find the one or ones that fulfill them, you can help but get on board and share in the joy, love, and yes, lots of hot sex.   I can’t wait for the next book in the series and see what happens next.  I do know that it will be explosive, sexy and full of compelling men.  That’ll keep me coming back for more and more and more.

Cover Artist Angelique Anderson.  The cover is hot, although that torso is more in keeping with Marcus then Cole.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing    All Romance (ARe)    Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 187 pages
Published November 4th 2014 by Samhain Publishing
original titleNo Boundaries
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.sejakes.com/books/no-boundaries/
seriesPhoenix, Inc. #1
charactersCloe Jacobs, Marcus Lowry